The Macintyre Range

I had a strong team lined up (Mastergrasshopper, Alistair and Great Expectations (Matt) and we easily made our way up to the Wright junction with Matt and Alistair breaking through about 3 inches of new snow over a firm base. Wright was cold, windy and icy but do-able in snowshoes if you exercised care.

Algonquin was amazing in a near whiteout but before we reached tree-line I got a cool photo of two friends descending Wright. While we dropped towards the Iroquois col the light and visibility changed continuously with veiled views opening up and disappearing rapidly. The herd path was not broken but was easy to follow and the wind had packed it down well. No issues. It was a beautiful crossing. Glen led us way over to the right and we avoided all steep sections. The icy crust held us with no breaking through.

Back at the junction Alistair headed out over Algonquin due to a broken snowshoe while the three of us descended in very deep powder snow to Lake Colden. What a soft descent! Not very quick due to the deep snow but very soft. We followed a lone set of snowshoe tracks to the Colden dam and then found a well-packed trail to the lean-to at Herbert Brook. The trail ended there. We broke trail in 8 inches of new snow over a good base with a discernable groove where the trail was. Progress was good and energy expenditure (mental and physical both) was very reasonable.

Then we followed a wrong herd path. Glen was not liking it so I outed with my compass (I always put one around my neck when I get dressed in the morning) and map and determined that we were going the wrong way. We plunge stepped down towards Herbert Brook, found the correct herd path and kept going. Then we completely lost the path and burned about an hour of daylight before using map, compass and altimeter to guide us. Progress with no underlying base was decidedly slower and energy sapping. It was now 4:20 pm and we were about 300 vertical feet below the summit. No sign of the vly anywhere and so we decided to make “the turn” towards the summit and pray. All of a sudden it was 100% clear that we were back on the herd path.

The snow was so deep that we felt no discernible base below our snowshoes. Progress was now very slow and fatigue was upon us. We rotated leads often with the leader going as hard as he could then stepping aside when he felt too much fatigue. It seemed to take a long time but finally, we saw the summit sign. Glen took my picture and we turned tail. Back at the lean-to it was dark and chilly but we took our time in fueling and drinking before the long walk out. Crossing the lakes in the pitch black night with snow falling and swirling about our headlamp beams was just one more of the magical and unforgettable moments of Project-100.